That's a good question. And one i really don't know the answer too,
You would think that the coasters would be prone to being struck being metal. Or perhaps they're earthed like a lightning conductor in some way?
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2023: General Discussion
You would think that the coasters would be prone to being struck being metal. Or perhaps they're earthed like a lightning conductor in some way?
MellowPasta
TS Member
When in doubt. Google it (unless it’s health related then you will die, apparently)
Rick
TS Member
I nominate The Smiler as our test subject.
There's been a number of instances of this in the news over the years. There were lots of news stories from Kings Island where (I think) Diamondback was hit in some viral clip.
Also, an older article on Boulder Dash ,- https://www.travelpulse.com/News/De...er-Coaster-Struck-by-Lightning-in-Connecticut
VerticalLoop123
TS Member
Quick update re storm- on park this morning. staff suspecting little disruption but still not to sure. They’re moving staff from different ride teams to be spotters on CCTV blind spots. Currently got someone from Gangster Granny spotting for Rita.
Danscott22
TS Member
There are 13 rides closed at the moment, so possibly
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Craig
TS Administrator
Don't forget we have a ride availability topic for discussion about what's closed etc. I've moved discussion about the drone swarm to a dedicated Fireworks 2023 topic 
.
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DistortAMG
TS Member
Can anyone clear that up for me? What is the purpose of that. It makes no sense to me. Because if there was something that could go wrong in those blind spots, the rides should not be running full stop.
DistortAMG
TS Member
That still doesn't fly with me. They shouldn't be putting potential customer safety in the hands of a spotter. Especially on coasters where if a problem occurrs and is "spotted" it is probably too late, as an e-stop won't do anything until the breaks.
The engineers should be doing a rigorous job in the first place that no spotters are needed. I am sure they are doing that too. Making this even more confusing.
In credit to Towers though, I guess it doesn't hurt to have the extra layer of safety.
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I would argue that human spotters are way better than CCTV. If a ride has, say, 10 CCTV cameras, the output from these will typically be displayed on one very large screen in "matrix format", i.e. the output from each camera is displayed very shrunk-down so all the cameras fit on one screen.
So are you telling me a ride operator [on not a lot more than the minimum wage] is monitoring all the CCTV camera output, whilst keeping an eye on goings on in the station, dispatching / feeding in trains, answering the phone [both internal normal phone & the ride intercom], managing the ride hosts / managing breaks etc? Come on! It does not happen.
I'm currently in Florida and noticed on Velocicoaster [excellent ride btw] there is a large CCTV video-wall in the Op Cabin with the output from each camera displayed in very large format. Said video-wall is behind the operator!
Edit / Update. I noticed today on Velocicoaster there are actually two operators. One controlling the ride (i.e. moving the trains - the one you see in the Op Cabin) and a second operator to the right, partly hidden behind a bank of screens on VESA mounts. Obviously no idea what these screens are displaying, but PLC messages / CCTV seems likely. The large video-wall at the back may be for show... but it's impressive, as is Velocicoaster itself.
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I think the use of spotters is to cover black spots normally covered by cctv eg guest enters ride area. Having a person dedicated is someone looking 24/7 that may not get seen on cctv.
DistortAMG
TS Member
I am not saying that at all no, the OP made it sound like they were monitoring CCTV dead spots, not spots where CCTV should be working but not working because of the storm.
If they are monitoring spots that are not usually monitored by CCTV aka dead spots, then clearly, the rides should not be opening as there are issues that could potentially cause problems that have not been spotted earlier in the day. If however, they are monitoring spots where CCTV usually works but is not, is making much more sense.
Could just be confusion of words, but generally a CCTV dead spot means bits the cameras cannot see, not bits that are unseen by broken cameras. We both could be interpreting dead spots different I guess.
I had an absolutely stunning day on park today. The park is looking mostly excellent and the combination of the sun and Mardi Gras made it feel like the magic was once back after a long time away.
I won’t give a line by line update but a few stand out things spring to mind.
- Park is looking stunning and incredibly tidy.
- Galactica is in a right state
- CRR is in desperate need of its effects back
- F&B pricing is shocking. I paid £3 for a warm bottle of Fanta, but I guess if people like me are begrudgingly willing to pay it on days like this, then why charge less.
- Mardi Gras is just sensational and was perfect in the heat of today. It’s great to have the parade back
- Curse is a fantastic dark ride. Had to do it twice to appreciate everything but is has some great jump scares although the screaming heads section needs more. I only noticed 1 head on both rides
- Smiler needs a clean but honestly didn’t look too bad in the hot weather. I imagine it looks pretty grim in the rain though.
I think the biggest take away is that the magic that seemed to be missing over the past few years seemed to back. I can’t quite put my finger on why, perhaps it was a combination of the sun, the music playing everywhere and the strong presentation of the park. It really did look stunning today.
I won’t give a line by line update but a few stand out things spring to mind.
- Park is looking stunning and incredibly tidy.
- Galactica is in a right state
- CRR is in desperate need of its effects back
- F&B pricing is shocking. I paid £3 for a warm bottle of Fanta, but I guess if people like me are begrudgingly willing to pay it on days like this, then why charge less.
- Mardi Gras is just sensational and was perfect in the heat of today. It’s great to have the parade back
- Curse is a fantastic dark ride. Had to do it twice to appreciate everything but is has some great jump scares although the screaming heads section needs more. I only noticed 1 head on both rides
- Smiler needs a clean but honestly didn’t look too bad in the hot weather. I imagine it looks pretty grim in the rain though.
I think the biggest take away is that the magic that seemed to be missing over the past few years seemed to back. I can’t quite put my finger on why, perhaps it was a combination of the sun, the music playing everywhere and the strong presentation of the park. It really did look stunning today.
QTXAdsy
TS Member
With all due respect, I won't be surprised if it is left in the state that it is in is that they are waiting to give Forbidden Valley its makeover during the closed season to get ready for the following season looking all good as what we saw with Oblivion when Smiler opened; if it is just a clean up or an actual retheme for something Phalanx related is anyone's guess.